


A Bad Goodbye

by ATLPanther



Category: Killing Eve (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Case Fic, F/F, Gen, Murder, Post-Canon, start of season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 12:42:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18992890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATLPanther/pseuds/ATLPanther
Summary: Eve and Villanelle escape from The Twelve. Villanelle believes that this will be the start of their lives together, but Eve has other ideas. In the aftermath of that decision Eve has to try to put her life back together, but old habits die hard.





	A Bad Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly canon accurate, except Hugo did not get shot and Eve and Hugo did not have sex.

Eve and Villanelle were trying to escape from their would be pursuers The Twelve. They both had just undergone somewhat of a Temptation of the Christ. Aaron had offered Villanelle everything if she would work for him. Villanelle rejected it. Carolyn had invited Eve to go home with her. Eve had rejected it. In Eve’s case, she felt manipulated and used. The realization that Carolyn had been using her all along was overwhelming and painful. She felt foolish. 

"There's an exit somewhere here I think," Villanelle said as she reached up to wipe the remaining blood of Raymond off her face. The place was a little dusty but it was safer for them to escape through the ruins. Eve tried not to close her eyes. She tried not to blink. Every time she did she saw his body, his severed head, heard his screams. She looked around for an exit. 

"Here, I can see a light," Eve said, pointing toward what looked like a door blocked by plywood. Eve started to pound her fists at the plywoods blocking the door and Villanelle eyed her apprehensively. She just stood by, grimacing at the shrieking sound of wood as Eve wrecked, pounded and tore the planks preventing their exit.

"Come on you piece of shit," Eve muttered rather violently under her breath as she kicked off another plank of wood.

"Are you sure you're okay?", Villanelle carefully asked her.

"Yeah," Eve answered quickly. She was singularly focused on the task at hand which she hoped would free them from the cave. Villanelle stood by, watching her. She felt a bit of sympathy for Eve, as she recalled how she had behaved after her first kill. It got easier for her with time. She decided to stay quiet for now and let Eve work out some of her feelings on the wooden planks. Eve eventually did break them down, and they were able to see daylight clearly. 

"Nice job!", Villanelle praised her as she ducked to avoid the splinters of wood around the door. "Need a hand?", Villanelle offered as the older woman stopped and remained standing at the foot of the stairs. Eve ignored her as she slowly made her way up. Both women gasped as light flooded their eyes. They had been in the darkness for so long that their eyes hurt at the sun’s brightness. Once they were able to see more clearly, they saw they were at what appeared to be a ruined theatre stage of antiquity. 

"Wow," Eve breathed in the fresh air, trying to calm her nerves. Today had been extremely eventful. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Raymond. She had killed him with an axe. She was no different from Lizzie Borden. No different from Villanelle, even. She didn’t know what to do with these feelings, with this realization.

"Its beautiful!”, Villanelle cheerfully said. 

Eve focused her attention on Villanelle, then. “How is she so perky in light of these events?, Was it experience? Will I have to kill again to know how to just move on with life?” Eve wondered to herself. 

As if to further cement how unbothered she was, Villanelle asked, "What do you want for dinner?" Eve regarded her placidly. She looked so beautiful in red (really, any color). Her smile was open and unguarded. This seemed genuine. This seemed like something Eve should trust. 

Outwardly she asked, "Dinner?"

"Mmm… Tonight I could make dinner!", Villanelle really seemed to be enamoured with the idea. Eve realized that she hadn’t really eaten that day, and was suddenly hungry. 

"Oh. Spaghetti?" Eve answered automatically, hoping she wouldn’t have to cook. It might be a while before she’d be able to look at raw meat again. 

"Good idea," Villanelle agreed. Then it seemed that Villanelle wanted to come to the heart of her desires. "I'm thinking we should go to Alaska. Have you seen pictures? It's so amazing. We could uh, get a cabin. Nobody would bother us there. We'd be normal!” 

She smiled hopefully at Eve before continuing, "I have money so you don't need to worry about that.”

"Okay," Eve said woodenly. Getting out of here was probably the best idea, and Villanelle seemed to paradoxically be the only person she could trust. They had both been lied to, they had both been manipulated. Going away with her seemed like the best idea. 

Villanelle reached out and gently took Eve’s arms in hers, looking into her eyes. She softly said, "You'll feel better soon. I'll look after you. It's going to be amazing!" Villanelle promised. Eve nodded mutely, overwhelmed by the choices in front of her, but trusting Villanelle. 

"Come on through here," She gestured Eve to follow her. She followed the young woman absentmindedly. Unbeknownst to them, they had disturbed a flock of nesting birds. They all flew away at once, making quite a racket. Eve hid herself beside Villanelle instinctively. Villanelle pulled out a gun, checked around to see if anyone else was there, and then smiled. 

"It's just the birds. We're fine!”, Villanelle said with a confident laugh. Eve’s eyes could only focus on one thing, the gun in her hand. The trust she had been willing to place in Villanelle began to waver. 

"You have a gun?", Eve asked. 

"Yeah…?", Villanelle responded, putting the gun away.

"Since when?", Eve demanded, hoping against hope that she was wrong. 

"It doesn't matter”, Villanelle tried to deflect. She began to walk away. 

"Why didn't you..?", Eve began. 

"Mmm?", Villanelle asked. 

"Why didn't you shoot Raymond?", Eve finally asked. 

"You had it under control," Villanelle said, with pride evident in her voice. 

"No I...", Eve started, but stopped herself. The doubt that had begun to form just then became a certainty. "You wanted me to do it," Eve accused Villanelle.

"I wanted you to know how it feels," Villanelle said, as though she were talking about any other mundane experience. "How did it feel?"

"Wet," Eve said flatly. 

Villanelle giggled at her response before saying, "I’m proud of you.” 

"Proud?", Eve asked, incredulously. 

"Yes. We're safe now. You made us safe”, Villanelle nearly whispered as she stepped toward Eve. 

"What do you mean?", Eve asked, feeling sick, confused, and angry. 

"Well, after today people will be angry but we can look after ourselves now, can't we?", Villanelle said with absolute conviction. Eve was not nearly as certain about anything anymore. Nothing made sense. 

Eve turned to walk away. "I'm going home," Eve stated flatly.

"What?", Villanelle asked, completely flummoxed. 

"I've got to go home," Eve said firmly. She pushed away Villanelle’s hands. She would not allow herself to be manipulated anymore. Those days were over. No one would ever use her this way again. 

"Eve, you can't go home," Villanelle replied, urgency in her voice. 

"Yes, I can," Eve said again, firmly. She didn’t know what she would be going home to, but at least it wouldn’t be a lie. 

"We need to talk," Villanelle said, almost desperately. She wanted to reason with Eve, to explain herself, to somehow make this good again like it had been a few minutes ago. The door that she saw them walking through together began to close. 

"No!", Eve almost shouted. 

"You're ruining the moment," Villanelle said, trying to make a joke. Anything would be better than the tears that were threatening to fall. 

"What do you think is happening here?", Eve asked, derisively. 

"What? I think we'd…", Villanelle began, but Eve had already heard enough. 

"You think we'd be what? Bonnie and Clyde?", Eve asked pointedly. "Just go on a killing spree? Cut a few throats?", Eve spat at her. 

"STOP IT," Villanelle snarled, panic setting in. She had thought she was finally getting Eve in the end. She had been planning their happy ending. It was not supposed to be this way. 

"You want me to be a mess. You want me to be scared!”, Eve shouted. Villanelle tried to touch her face, and Eve slapped her hand away. Her eyes blazed with anger and indignance. "But I'm like you now. I'm not afraid of anything. This is what you wanted", Eve said coolly. 

"This is what YOU wanted," Villanelle snapped back, but she still tried desperately to kiss Eve. Maybe a kiss would stop this from derailing. 

"This is what you wanted," Eve countered, pushing Villanelle away. They both stared at each other for a few beats. The silence was deafening. Eve finally decided she’d had enough and began walking away. 

"No, Eve!" Villanelle cried, losing her cool. "Eve, wait! Why are you being like this? You love me!” Villanelle ran after her. It couldn’t be like this. 

"No," Eve stated. 

Villanelle's breath caught in her throat. The monosyllabic answer hit her like a ton of bricks. "I love you," Villanelle cried. Her voice cracked, tears that had been threatening to fall now freely falling. 

"No!", Eve replied. 

"I do," Villanelle countered desperately. Pain was evident in her voice, in her face, in her eyes. She didn’t know how to make Eve see that it was true. She did love her. She always had.

"You don't understand what that is,” Eve said flatly. 

"I do. You're mine," Villanelle shouted. 

"NO”, Eve shouted back. She knew she would never let anyone own her or control her or manipulate her again. 

"You are. You're mine," Villanelle began openly weeping now. The panicked feeling was slowly giving way to anger. She felt like a fool, and she wanted to strike out and make Eve hurt just as much as she did. As she watched Eve walk away, she knew she’d do anything she could to make Eve feel the pain she felt. “I thought you were special," Villanelle uttered coldly. 

"I'm sorry to disappoint," Eve softly whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. She turned to leave, to go home, to get away from all of this to try to make sense of her life. 

Villanelle had other ideas. She raised her gun, and aimed a shot for Eve’s shoulder. Eve was shocked, and collapsed in pain immediately. She didn’t see Villanelle calmly walk away. Her vision just went black. 

Eve didn’t know how long she had been out, but when she came to she was in the company of Carolyn and Konstantin. Apparently Villanelle had called them to tell them what she’d done. Her whereabouts were unknown, but they managed to patch Eve up and get her back to London. 

The injury that she sustained to her shoulder wasn’t life threatening and wouldn’t cause any lasting damage, it just hurt like hell. The gun that Villanelle had apparently wasn’t powerful enough to mortally wound, but certainly enough to cause some discomfort for a long time. She now had a lifelong scar from Villanelle. It would match the one she’d left on Villanelle’s abdomen all those months ago in Paris. 

On the way back to London, Carolyn and Konstantin didn’t say ‘I told you so’ in so many words, but they made their feelings very clear in the cutting looks they gave her. They dropped her off at her home, and she was alone with no real idea what she would do. She had no direction, no mission, no husband, no Villanelle to chase. She was aimless. She had no idea what she would do with her life from here on out, but she knew one thing. She refused to be manipulated again. 

For a few days she just lay in bed, not really noting the passage of time. She barely ate. She didn’t sleep. When the pain got too severe she took the medication Konstantin had left, she changed her bandages, and she immediately went back to bed. It seemed like life no longer had any meaning. She had no idea what to do going forward. 

It wouldn’t do to contact Niko. That bridge had long been burned, and she assumed that he was happy with Gemma. She couldn’t reach out to Kenny due to her own boorish behavior. She assumed that Carolyn had no use for her anymore. Konstantin would be of no help at all. Jess and Hugo would be on Carolyn’s side and Villanelle...that had to be over. 

She had to firmly put her feelings toward Villanelle in the past. That was a door that she would no longer allow herself to open. This cat and mouse game was finished. As much as she tried to tell herself this, she kept hearing Villanelle’s declaration of love reverberate in her mind. She saw the look on her face, heard the desperation in her voice. If she hadn’t been so stubborn, if she would have permitted herself to allow Villanelle to kiss her, they would be together now. 

But, on the other hand, it would have been a lie. She would have been with Villanelle under false pretenses. She had killed Raymond due to being manipulated into it. The gun that Villanelle fired at her, she could have easily fired at him. Her trust in Villanelle had been badly misplaced. She had to forget her face, her eyes, her voice, the soft touches, the sounds she made when she orgasmed...all of that had to be put behind her. 

With these thoughts Eve endured each day. As the days became weeks, her shoulder started to feel normal again. She needed less of the pain medication. One day there was a knock on the door. A man was there with divorce papers from Niko. She took them mutely, practically slamming the door in his face. She read the date on the papers and realized that she had been in this zombie-like state for a month. 

She sighed and sat down at the dining room table, trying not to remember meals shared with Niko or (more painfully) meals shared with Villanelle. She tried not to think about how good Villanelle’s spaghetti might have tasted. Eve knew she had to return to some sense of normality, but she didn’t even entirely know what that was anymore. She wasn’t sure what she wanted. 

Eve had been avoiding her phone all this time. She took the landline phone off the hook and had turned her phone completely off. Today she decided might be a good day to try to reconnect with the world, so she turned on her personal smartphone. There were several missed calls and texts from Niko. She deleted them without reading them. That relationship was dead. 

There was even a voicemail from Villanelle. Eve pondered listening to it, but she knew she couldn’t. She would be tempted to reach out to her, to bizarrely apologize, to even see if it were possible to take her up on the offer to go to Alaska. She deleted it without listening to it. 

“Is she in Alaska now?”, Eve asked herself aloud. She closed her eyes and pictured Oksana in some kind of parka, surrounded by snow, and smiling. The thought tore her up inside. Just as she was pondering this, her phone rang. It was a phone number she didn’t recognize. She’d considered just sending the call to voicemail, but it had been so long since she had actually spoken to another person, she decided to answer it, putting it on speakerphone. 

“Hello?”, Eve asked. 

“Hello, Eve. This is Carolyn Marten. I trust your shoulder is improved?”, Carolyn replied. 

“I...Carolyn?”, Eve asked, bewildered. 

“Yes, Eve. Is now a bad time? Should I call you later?”, Carolyn asked. 

“No...now is fine”, Eve said, trying to sound normal. 

“Good. We at MI6 have need of your skills again. Seems there’s a new assassin on the loose. Are you interested?”, Carolyn asked. 

Eve stared at the phone in shock. Carolyn discussed these assassinations the way someone would discuss the weather ruining their family picnic. 

“I...I’m not sure”, Eve answered honestly. She had assumed that her days of chasing assassins around Europe were behind her. 

“Well, do think about it. Meet me at the office at 9AM tomorrow morning if you are interested. If I don’t see you there, I’ll assume you’re out of the game. Have a good evening!”, Carolyn disconnected the call. 

Eve leaned back in her chair, struck dumb. She didn’t know what she would do. She didn’t know what she even wanted to do. The thought of tracking down another assassin did still appeal to her, and she knew it might give her an opportunity to find Villanelle again, but that thought filled her with equal amounts of hope and trepidation. 

“I can’t stay in this house forever”, Eve murmured to herself, but she couldn’t think of what else she wanted to be doing. A list of potential careers flitted through her mind, but none of them seemed to meet her needs. 

With another deep sigh she knew that she’d be there in the morning. She would take on this assignment. Nothing else would do. For some reason, chasing assassins and solving murders made her heart race in a way that nothing else ever did or ever would. She laid out her clothes for tomorrow, took a shower, and got herself ready for the next day. 

The next morning she got to the MI6 building promptly at 9AM. She was surprised to realize that her badge still worked, and she headed inside. Nothing had really changed since the last time she’d been there, but she had changed. Everywhere she looked, she checked for evidence of lies or manipulation or half truths. It was something she could no longer abide. 

When she reached the location of her office, she hesitated at the door. She didn’t know how or if she would be welcomed. She didn’t know what to expect or how she would be treated. As she pondered this, the problem was partially solved for her when Kenny opened the door from the other side. 

“Uh...hi”, Kenny said, awkwardly. 

“...Hi, Kenny”, Eve said, feeling equally awkward. 

“There’s our girl”, Hugo called out in his usual jocular style. 

Jess waved from the desk next to him “Good to see you, Eve!”, she said. 

She mutely nodded to her coworkers, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. Eve moved gingerly through the office, stepping where her desk usually was. It was as she’d left it over a month ago when she’d gone to Rome. She stiffly sat down on the chair there, feeling out of place. 

“Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I don’t belong here anymore”, Eve thought to herself. She was about to grab her things and dart out as quickly as she came when Carolyn came through the door. 

“Ah, Eve. Good to see you”, Carolyn said, as though Eve had been on a brief vacation. “Come into the meeting room and we’ll show you what we have.” 

Eve, Kenny, Jess, and Hugo all followed Carolyn into the office. She set up her laptop and projector to show the crime scene photos. There were three victims, all of them white males, all of them arms dealers. There was one in Germany, one in Italy, and one in France. Eve studied the photos. The man in Germany had been poisoned. The man in Italy had been stabbed. The man in France had been brutally bludgeoned to death. His face looked like hamburger. 

“At least I didn’t go that far with Raymond”, Eve thought to herself. 

“So we’re trying to figure out the identity of the killer. We wanted to know if you could piece it together”, Carolyn said in summation. 

“...Are you asking me to identity if this was Villanelle?”, Eve asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

“Quite right”, Carolyn replied. “It does seem to be her profile, doesn’t it?” 

“No...I don’t think this is her”, Eve said, studying the photos more closely. There was a common theme in them, she knew it, it just had to jump out to her. “The victims all seem to be the type of targets she would go after, but these aren’t her style. The victims were all killed at home. There’s no flamboyant staging of the body, no public spectacle, and all of these means are fairly conventional. The only one that seems like it might be her is the one in France. She does enjoy overkill every once in a while.” 

“Do you have anything more concrete to base this on, or is it intuition?”, Carolyn asked her pointedly. 

“Give me just a second…”, Eve said, continuing to study the photos. “WAIT!”, she shouted. 

“What? What is it?”, Jess asked. 

“Look at this”, Eve said, standing up next to the projector. “All of these crime scenes have something in common. A flower vase with a chrysanthemum. So whoever did this uses this as a calling card and has to be the same person.” 

“Woah, I can’t believe I didn’t notice that”, Hugo said, astonished. 

“I bet if we can figure out who bought the flowers we might be closer to our killer”, Eve said thoughtfully. 

“Kenny”, Carolyn said, “Look into any purchases of chrysanthemums in the 5 days preceding each killing in each locale. Let us know what you find.” 

“Yes, ma’am”, Kenny said, heading to his computer. 

Turning to Hugo and Jess, Carolyn said, “In the meanwhile, I want you two to keep tabs on the leads we’ve currently got. Let me know if anything turns up.” They nodded and headed back to their desks, closing the door behind them.

“Now Eve, I think you and I have a little bit to discuss”, Carolyn said, in as pleasant a voice as she could muster. 

“I…guess we do”, Eve said, feeling awkward again. She sat down at the seat across the table from Carolyn. 

“Look, it’s not uncommon for an investigator to sometimes lose their heads a bit with a case. Happens to the best of us”, Carolyn said gently. 

“Has it happened to you?”, Eve asked, surprised. 

“Yes”, Carolyn said, simply. “The important thing is to just keep trying to solve the case in front of you, and not to let yourself slip up again. Do I make myself clear?” 

“...Yes”, Eve said, quietly, turning to go. 

“It’s good to have you back, Eve”, Carolyn said. Eve looked into Carolyn’s eyes and for once she could actually fully believe what she said then. 

“It’s...good to be back”, Eve said before heading back to her desk. 

Eve felt so conflicted about this. On the one hand, it had felt good to be back on the chase, as it were. Solving these cases fulfilled her in a way that nothing else ever had, but she didn’t want to put herself into another position where she might be manipulated again. Carolyn, by her very nature, would manipulate her if she felt it was necessary. She couldn’t fully trust anything she was being told. As she headed back to her desk, pondering all of this, Kenny came scurrying back into the office. 

“There’s been another murder of a weapons dealer. This one is in York, England”, Kenny shouted. 

“So much for having a slow first day back, eh Eve?”, Hugo said jokingly. Carolyn came back into the office just then, having overheard what Kenny had just said. 

“Well, Eve, are you up for a trip?”, Carolyn asked. 

“Uh...sure. That sounds fine”, Eve said woodenly. She still felt mixed emotions about what she was doing. 

“Great! Pack up a few days clothes and I’ll come by and pick you up in...an hour or so? York is a 4 hour or so drive away, so be prepared for that”, Carolyn said in her usual efficient manner. 

“Ok”, Eve said, turning to leave the office and head home. 

Outwardly she might have appeared calm, but inwardly she was still fighting with this. She enjoyed what she was doing, but she didn’t want to be in another situation where she was opening herself up to being used as a pawn in some larger game she didn’t understand. Still, these people were being killed, and it did need to be resolved. With a sigh she resigned herself to at least see this through. 

She packed up a few days worth of clothes, and Carolyn arrived at the appointed time. She piled dutifully into the car provided, and they sped off toward York. 

“York, the last place God made”, Carolyn groused. “It would be nice if these locales could be a bit more convenient to London.” Eve mutely nodded, looking out the window. 

“Do you have a plan?”, Carolyn asked. 

“Plan?”, Eve asked. 

“Well, yes. Once we get to York, what do you intend to do?”, Carolyn asked. 

“Well...I guess we’ll need to investigate the crime scene, see if this killing matches the others with the flower. If it does, we’ll have to check to see if there’s any DNA evidence on it, and then check the nearest florist to see if there is CCTV footage of the person who bought it”, Eve said thoughtfully.

Carolyn nodded. “Just needed to verify where your head is. You haven’t lost those investigative chops, Polastri.” The rest of the drive passed mostly in silence, punctuated with Carolyn cursing under her breath about traffic, tolls, and roundabouts. 

When they finally arrived at the crime scene, it was near dark. It was a magnificently appointed country house. The victim was still lying in his bedroom, a tarp covering the body. She and Carolyn both walked in. 

“What was the cause of death?”, Eve asked the officer on duty. 

“Looks like blunt force trauma to the head. Pretty ghastly stuff”, the officer replied. 

Eve’s eyes scanned the room, and sure enough, on the bedside table, was the vase with the chrysanthemum. 

“Scan this vase for DNA”, Eve ordered. The officer dutifully complied, and someone picked it up with gloved hands and took it away for analysis. 

As they were leaving, Eve asked, “Is there a florist nearby?” 

“Florist?”, officer asked. “I’m not really sure, ma’am.” 

With a sigh, Eve got out her smartphone and did a Google search. There were two florists within 5 KM of the victim’s home. Both of them would be open for the next hour. 

“I’ll wrap up here and let you know if anything else turns up. You head to the florists. Please don’t wreck my car”, Carolyn said, demurely handing Eve her car keys.

Eve took the keys and ran to the car. She punched the address of the first florist into Carolyn’s GPS, and sped off. Thankfully traffic wasn’t too bad, so she arrived there in about 10 minutes. She killed the engine, knocked on the door, and headed into the florist. 

“Hello, madam! My name is Roger. Welcome to our shop!”, a kindly older gentleman greeted her. He had salt and pepper hair at his temples, a well-trimmed beard, and what seemed like a very patient nature. “How may I help you today?” 

“Hi, Roger. My name is Eve Polastri. I’m with MI6. I need to ask you a few questions about your business today. Do you have time to chat?”, Eve asked, showing her official badge. 

“Oh, of course! I have all the time in the world. Time is a precious commodity. And MI6 business? A proper police woman is in my shop? I’m happy to help the country in any way I may!”, the gentleman prattled on. Eve got the sinking feeling this would not be quick. 

She sighed, getting out a notebook and pen. “Have you been here all day?”, Eve asked. 

“Yes, indeed. The only time I leave is when we close for lunch, and that’s from noon to 1PM sharp. I’m never late to reopen the shop. Punctuality is a goodly virtue!”, Roger said with a genial smile. 

“Of course”, Eve said. “Did you sell chrysanthemums today?”, she asked. 

“Chrysanthemums? I sell them everyday! They’re a very common flower. They are a popular choice for sympathy arrangements. Red carnations evoke admiration, pink carnations stand for remembrance, and white carnations are for innocence and pure love!”, Roger beamed. 

“Did you sell a single chrysanthemum today? One that was not a part of an arrangement or bouquet?”, Eve asked, trying to get Roger to the point. 

“No, I’m afraid I didn’t. Now, a young lady did come in asking for me to sell her a single chrysanthemum. She seemed to be in a real hurry because she didn’t stay for my explanation of why I don’t sell single flowers. You see, all of my arrangements and bouquets are specially made for the occasion and I can’t just…”, Roger began.

Eve cut him off. “Tell me about the young lady. What do you remember about her? About what time of day did she come here?”

“Well...she was lovely. Very tall. Much taller than you, if I may say so ma’am. She had dark hair, wore sunglasses, and was very smartly dressed. I think she wore one of those designer dresses with heels. I’d never seen anything like it! If I I had to guess, I’d say it was in at about 3:15. I remember because Mrs. Livingstone came in to get her bouquet of flowers for her daughter’s wedding and that was at about 3. The young lady waited in line”, Roger replied.

Eve sighed. This guy wasn’t going to give her a lot to go on, and he also wouldn’t shut the hell up. It’s a miracle this killer hadn’t decided to go after him. “Thank you so much for your time, sir. We’ll be back in touch if we need any further information from you.” 

“I’ll be here, ma’am! Anything I can do, you just let Old Roger know and I’ll be there with bells on!”, he said with a smile. 

Eve smiled back, despite herself. He was a nice guy, just long winded. She waved goodbye and headed back to Carolyn’s car to follow up on the other lead at the other florist. Roger had spent so much time talking to her, she only had 20 minutes before they closed. She hoped she would make it in time. She put the address in the GPS and sped off. Thankfully it wasn’t too far away from Roger’s florist shop, so she managed to get there 10 minutes from closing time. She felt a bit guilty about that for the poor retail workers, and hoped she would be able to work quickly. 

She walked into the shop and was immediately greeted. “Hello, ma’am! Welcome to our store! Is there anything I can help you with?”, a woman with a very pleasant smile asked. She was red haired with what seemed to be an equally kind nature. 

“My name is Eve Polastri. I’m with MI6. I need to ask you a few questions”, Eve said, showing her badge to the young woman. “May I have your name?” 

“Oh, my name is Liz!”, the woman replied, startled. “Is something wrong?”, she asked. 

“No, I just have a couple questions and I’ll hopefully be on my way”, Eve said with a smile.

The smile seemed to put Liz slightly at ease. “What can I do for you?” 

“Did you sell any chrysanthemums today?”, Eve asked. 

“Chrysanthemums? Well, there were 5 funeral arrangements earlier today that got picked up by various people”, Liz said thoughtfully. 

“Did you sell a single chrysanthemum today? One that was not in an arrangement or bouquet?”, Eve asked, grateful that Liz seemed capable of getting to the point. 

“Yes, a young woman came in today at about 4PM looking for a single chrysanthemum. Said she’d been to Roger’s shop earlier and he wouldn’t sell her just one and also went on and on. Roger’s a dear, but he’ll talk your ear off”, Liz replied. 

Eve smiled. “I know. I just left his shop and almost missed you here. Could you describe the buyer for me?” 

Liz laughed. “Roger never changes. But, yes, she came in at about 4PM. Beautiful dark hair, sunglasses, wearing a red, form fitting designer dress. She looked stunning, if I’m being honest. I think we actually may have CCTV you can use if you need it.” 

“Yes, that would be extremely helpful”, Eve replied quickly. 

“I’m not real tech savvy, but the CCTV for my shop is on some...database, I think was the term the constable used. If you can get it from them, you’re free to it”, Liz said. 

“Thank you for your help”, Eve said, already thinking through the necessary subpoenas and other clearances that may be required. “Have a good evening.” 

“No problem. Come back any time!”, Liz said. 

Eve waved goodbye, and headed back to the crime scene where Carolyn was overseeing things. As she arrived the body was being moved out in an ambulance, a coroner there to confirm the cause of death. She parked and stepped back inside to find Carolyn. 

“Welcome back”, Carolyn said genially. “What did you learn?” 

“Well, I learned that chrysanthemums are very common in funeral arrangements and…”, Eve began. 

“Eve…”, Carolyn gave her a cutting look. She was in no mood for jibes. 

“I think we might have a lead on an ID. She went to both florists, and in one she was caught on CCTV. It’s on a city wide database, so we’ll have to get subpoenas”, Eve answered. 

“That sounds like as good a lead as any. I’ll start the paperwork tonight once we get to the hotel. Speaking of which, are you ready to head over there?”, Carolyn asked, standing to leave the house. Carolyn lead the way and they headed back to her car. They got to the hotel, checked into their separate rooms, and made plans to head back to London in the morning, the killer probably being long gone by now. 

Eve piled into her hotel room, her mind ablaze. She had missed doing these kinds of investigations, putting together these kinds of puzzles, profiling killers. She just hoped she weren’t being used again. As she turned off the light and got into bed, she wondered if doing this would bring her into proximity with Villanelle again. She slept fitfully, Villanelle haunting her dreams. 

The next morning she woke up, got dressed and packed up, then headed down to the lobby to find Carolyn already reading the morning paper. They exchanged ‘good mornings’ over their coffee, but were otherwise silent. Eve knew Carolyn hated breakfast and would talk when she was ready. 

“So…”, Carolyn began, her coffee cup now empty. “I was able to get that CCTV footage of our florist. I’ve already sent it over to Kenny. We can verify it once we get back to the office and see if we can get a potential ID. Did you get a description?” 

“Yes, I did. I know what she was wearing that day”, Eve replied. 

Carolyn nodded. “Good. Now let’s head out. Maybe if we leave here early enough the damn traffic will be reasonable.” 

They piled into the car in silence and drove in silence. This time Carolyn didn’t even curse, as traffic was much better that time of morning. They arrived back in London that afternoon, and headed back to the MI6 office directly where Hugo, Jess, and Kenny were working. 

Carolyn stepped into the office first, and Eve followed. “Kenny”, Carolyn called, “did you get that florist footage from York?” 

“Yes, I did”, Kenny replied, not looking up from his PS Vita. 

“Well if you’re not too busy with your anime girlfriends, can you cue it up for us?”, Carolyn asked tersely. 

“They’re vocaloids”, Kenny replied churlishly, but he did cue up the footage. 

“Do you know about what time of day it was?”, Carolyn asked. 

“It was around 4PM she said”, Eve replied. Kenny advanced the time stamp on the video to 3:50 PM and let the video play from there. 

They watched as people walked around outside the shop, but at 4:05 a young woman did come in. She was tall, dark haired, in a red designer dress. 

“That’s her”, Eve said. “She fits the description given by both shop owners.” 

“Good work, Eve”, Carolyn said, and then turned to Kenny. “Run her face up against that facial scan software and see if we can find a match. I know she’s wearing sunglasses, but it may turn up something until we hear back about DNA on that vase.” 

“On it”, Kenny said, activating the facial matching software. 

Eve stood there like an out of place chair. She didn’t have a specific task to do at this point, and she felt awkward around Kenny. She’d behaved boorishly. She knew she should apologize, but she couldn’t. The words just died on her lips. So she just stood there until she thought it might be better to at least sit at her desk and do some paperwork and clean her email inbox. 

The DNA evidence didn’t turn up by the end of the day, and Kenny was still running the footage up against the software. It could take some more time to get a match. Eve decided to head home, hopeful that tomorrow would bring new leads. It surprised her how excited she was to be back at this again, even if it meant exposing herself to potential manipulation.

“Is this gonna be the rest of my life? Being manipulated and then manipulating others?”, Eve asked herself as she laid in bed. Her thoughts once again turned to Villanelle and she once again had dreams about her. 

The next morning she went to the MI6 office. 

“We have a DNA match, and a potential ID”, Carolyn said by way of greeting. “Meet me in my office in 10 minutes. We have a lot to talk about...with an old friend.” 

“Uh...ok”, Eve said, blindsided and wondering what she meant by ‘old friend’. At the appointed time, she headed into Carolyn’s office to find her there with Konstantin. 

“Of course this involves you”, Eve said, rolling her eyes. 

“It’s a pleasure to see you too, Eve”, Konstantin said. 

“Thanks for the medication, though. Seriously. It helped a lot”, Eve replied. 

“Well, now that we’re all reacquainted”, Carolyn cut in, “Konstantin is going to enlighten us about the identity of our killer.” 

“What do you mean?”, Eve asked. 

Carolyn turned her monitor to face Eve and Konstantin. It displayed a young woman in a similar prison uniform that Villanelle had worn, but her hair was much darker, her eyes blue. Her features were just as delicate. 

“What is this? What is this about?”, Eve asked. 

“Konstantin is about to explain it to us”, Carolyn replied, leveling a steady gaze at Konstantin. 

“I...well…”, he began. Carolyn and Eve both shot him quizzical looks. “She was one of my students, like Villanelle.” 

“Go on…”, Carolyn said, crossing her arms. 

“Her name is Zenaida Popov, but she goes by Elodie. She was an excellent pupil. In some ways even better than Villanelle. We assigned her to some work in the Middle East”, Konstantin went on. 

“Did they train together?”, Eve asked. 

“Yes”, Konstantin replied. “They were…”, and at this point he gazed meaningfully into Eve’s eyes, “close.” 

Eve blushed, and Carolyn cleared her throat. There was a brief moment of silence before Konstantin continued, “We thought her skills were best suited away from Villanelle, but now she’s completed her work in Afghanistan and she’s back.” 

“Are she and Villanelle working together now?”, Carolyn asked, sparing Eve from asking what she was dying to know. 

“I believe so, yes”, Konstantin said, “but I don’t know that for sure.” 

“I thought Villanelle was the only pupil you had”, Eve said. “Is there Konstantin’s Finishing School for Female Assassins?”, she pointedly asked. 

Konstantin laughed at her jibe. “Not exactly, I’m out of that business. Most of my students are dead besides these two, and they were my best.” 

“Well...thanks for the information”, Eve said with a sigh. “Just what we need, another psychopath assassin running around Europe”, she thought. 

“We have a lead on a potential target, and I think we might be able to stake her out”, Carolyn said. “There is another arms dealer in Frankfurt, Germany. I want you and Hugo to go there and see if we can intercept her.” 

“Ok, I can do that”, Eve said, standing to leave. 

“This won’t be like chasing Villanelle, Eve”, Konstantin said by way of warning. “This will be very different, and if they are together...well...just be careful.” 

“I’ll do my best”, Eve said, striding out of the room.

As ridiculous as this was, she didn’t want to think about Villanelle with someone else. Even though she had rejected her, even though she had spurned her declaration of love, a part of her still hoped that someday they could get back to what they had. Somehow, in her mind, that door wasn’t completely closed no matter how hard she tried to close it. 

She sighed and headed back to her desk, deciding to read up on Zenaida’s case file. There was a history of violence as far back as the age of 5, she had deliberately burned her family’s house down, killing her parents and brother at the age of 10. She had bounced around from foster home to foster home before arriving in police custody. She had been there at a time frame overlapping with Villanelle’s stay in prison. That was presumably when Konstantin scouted them both for training. 

“Elodie has been a bad girl”, Eve murmured. 

“Oh, but you like them that way, eh partner?”, Hugo joked, having overheard what she’d said. 

“I guess I do”, Eve said with a smile and a shrug. 

“Well I’ll meet you at the airport tomorrow and we’ll head to Frankfurt”, Hugo said, waving goodbye and heading out with the surveillance equipment. Eve finished up her work for the day and then headed home to pack. 

She and Hugo met at the airport the next morning and the flight to Frankfurt was uneventful. They got to the hotel, got checked in, and set up the surveillance equipment. They agreed that Eve would go on site and Hugo would stay behind in a support role if she needed assistance. 

Eve headed to the location of the next target. There was a vacant house next to his that offered an excellent vantage point into his home, but something seemed off. She observed the house for hours. No one came in, no one went out, no lights turned on or off. It was as though it had been abandoned. 

“Hugo, something’s wrong. I think I’m gonna have to go in”, Eve stated into her phone. 

“What? Are you sure that’s wise?”, Hugo asked. “She could be in there! It could be a trap!” 

“Maybe...but I’m going in. I’ll contact you if I need anything”, Eve said, hanging up the phone.

Hugo was, of course, correct. What she was about to do was incredibly dumb and dangerous, but she just felt compelled to do it, she crept out of the house and scaled the fence to gain entrance to the backyard of the target’s house. She tried the backdoor and found it open. She slipped in, trying to quietly close the door behind her.

The house was completely dark and silent. The only thing Eve could hear was her breath. She tiptoed through the living room area, trying not to bump into any furniture. Her eyes darted around, but there was no one. The kitchen and dining room were similarly empty. She knew she would have to investigate upstairs. 

She took a deep breath before heading up the stairs, as quickly and as quietly as she could. She didn’t know what she expected to find, but she knew something felt off about this. The only door open upstairs was to the master bedroom. She decided to head in there. It had to be open for a reason. 

When she walked in she was greeted with an astonishing sight. There, on the bed, was a beautiful woman. She wasn’t as beautiful as Villanelle, but she was striking in her own right. She had long red hair, light freckles, delicate features, a heart-shaped face with bright blue eyes. 

“The dark hair must have been a wig. Of course”, Eve thought to herself. 

The woman regarded Eve placidly, sitting up on the bed to gaze at her thoughtfully. Her fingers were not as long as Villanelle’s but they were just as elegant. She had long, graceful legs that looked great in her tight fitting jeans. She wore a bright yellow blouse and minimal makeup. 

“So”, the young woman began in a Russian accent, “you must be Eve.”

“And you must be…Zenaida?”, Eve asked. 

The young woman bristled at the use of that name, “Elodie, please”, she said tersely. 

“Ok, Elodie”, Eve replied. “What’s this about?”

“I just wanted to meet the agent attempting to chase me. MI6 is really gullible these days, falling for bad intel”, Elodie said breezily. 

“Can’t be too bad if you’re here”, Eve replied. 

The placid look that Elodie initially leveled Eve hardened into a predatory gaze. “I also had to meet the ex”, Elodie said coolly. 

“The ex?”, Eve asked. 

“Ksucha still thinks about you, and I can’t figure out why”, Elodie replied. 

“Ksucha?”, Eve asked. 

“You don’t even know what Oksana’s nickname in Russian would be?”, Elodie asked, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know what she sees in you. I just know that she would never forgive me if I killed you. So just stay out of my way, and it’ll be best for the both of us.” 

“You know I can’t do that”, Eve said. “Unless you and Villanelle change jobs, I’m gonna have to chase you.” 

“Do what you want”, Elodie said, standing to leave. “Just stay out of my way. I can’t kill you directly, but I can’t help it if you get caught up in collateral damage.” 

With that, she strode toward the window, opened it, and jumped out. 

“Wait!”, Eve yelled, but it was too late. 

Elodie had already gracefully landed on the ground, and had taken a well-planned escape route that kept her out of Eve’s line of vision. In the darkness Eve couldn’t make out a thing. She stayed at the window for a few minutes hoping she’d catch her trail, but she didn’t. She then ran down the steps, but Elodie was long gone. She had already accounted for every contingency. 

“Shit!”, Eve murmured. 

She contacted Hugo to let him know what happened and then headed back to the hotel in a dark mood. She ate some food and then immediately went to her room to go to bed. It wasn’t even just about the bad intel. It was also about the realization that maybe what she and Villanelle had was over. These last few weeks without her had been dark and lonely. Taking this case had given her a sliver of hope that she might see her again, but now she was with someone else. 

It hurt, but Eve knew she didn’t really have a right to be hurt in the situation. This was her own doing. She had pushed Villanelle away, spurred her, rejected her. It wasn’t wrong for Villanelle to move on, but it still hurt her deeply. It hurt her way more than losing Niko. It hurt her more than the shot to her shoulder. 

As she closed her eyes to try to sleep she hoped that she’d have an opportunity to talk to Villanelle again. Chasing Elodie would surely bring them together again.

**Author's Note:**

> If people want more of this, I have some further ideas. I basically plan to rub Eve’s nose in the decision that she’s made. Post ideas below. Much thanks to ChyDev23 and Mediocre_LazyWriter as always. Please kudos and comment below! Hit me up on Twitter @PantherNGA.


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